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About Us

Message from the Chair

January 1, 2014

The Department of Pediatrics at the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University is committed to innovation and excellence in clinical medicine, education, research, community health, global health and the development of our faculty. Critical to our success has been our long term partnerships with Columbia University Medical Center's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Mailman School of Public Health, and the NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital (formerly Babies Hospital).

Our history is a rich one. The origin of Columbia University's heritage in pediatric medicine dates from 1769; the Babies Hospital dates to 1887. Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital opened in 2003 and is among the finest children's hospitals in the United States. The medical and surgical complexity of the patients cared for at the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital are among the highest in the US and the cutting edge clinical programs led by our faculty draw patients from the region, the nation and increasingly from around the world.

Our pediatric residency and 22 fellowship subspecialty programs include 120 of the best and brightest young physicians from across the United States and around the world. These enthusiastic and energetic young physicians are destined to become the clinicians, educators, scientists and leaders of tomorrow.

Over the past three years we have recruited new, nationally recognized leaders to the department adding to our existing talented leadership. Joel Lavine, MD, PhD, an NIH funded hepatologist, joined us from the University of California San Diego to lead Gastroenterology/Hepatology; Susan Rosenthal, PhD, an NIH-funded behavioral scientist recruited from University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston, is leading the expansive division of Child and Adolescent Health; Fangming Lin, MD, an NIH funded stem cell researcher from University of Texas Southwestern, is growing the clinical and academic programs in Nephrology; Steven Kernie, MD, an NIH funded neuroscientist also recruited from University of Texas Southwestern is heading our critical care medicine program; and Andrew Kung, MD, PHD, an NIH funded cancer physician-scientist from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Boston Children’s Hospital, has joined us to lead the division of Hematology/Oncology/Stem Cell Transplantation.

The Department of Pediatrics is committed to use-inspired science and translational research that focuses on novel discovery that addresses the greatest threats facing children in the 21st century including obesity and malnutrition, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, infectious diseases, asthma, prematurity, and adolescent health, and moves the discoveries to application. We value the community we serve and in conjunction with the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital have developed partnerships with agencies and stakeholders in the Washington Heights-Inwood community to address health issues of local importance.

We also recognize an obligation to children everywhere and are expanding our global health programs, building on our international research, education and clinical efforts in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean and enlarging our partnership with organizations like the American-Austrian Foundation and Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.

The focus of the Department of Pediatrics has not changed in 120 years. We are here to make a difference in the lives of children.